Bates College

09/10/2026

Bates Field Hockey rallies for a thrilling 3-2 OT win over Bowdoin! It's a Great Day to be a Bobcat!

09/09/2026

From sunrise to sunset, Bates senior Charlotte Comrack ’27 reflects on her full-circle Bates AESOP experience and its deep connection to fostering and connecting the Bates community, past, present, and future.

“The most rewarding part about being an AESOP leader is watching a group of strangers turn into a community…. As a leader, I felt intrinsically connected to the experiences my first-year students were having, and felt connected to generations of Bates students,” writes Comrack.

“By the end of the trip, they had inside jokes that the other [trip] leaders and I didn’t even understand. That’s when I knew I had done my job well.”

See Charlotte’s full story at the link in our comments.

(Nate Shore ’27, Angus Kurts ’30, Charlotte Comrack ’27, Ava Aspen ’27 for Bates College)

09/08/2026

What does it mean to build a community of belonging at Bates?

At the recent Student Center for Belonging and Community Open House, held on Thursday, Sept. 3, students, faculty, and staff gathered in Chase Hall for food, friendship, and fun as they celebrated the start of the new academic year.

SCBC Associate Dean and Director Tonya Bailey reflected on how community and belonging at Bates is not the responsibility of just one office, program, or department, but is the result of intentional collaboration across campus, including with the students themselves.

“When we work together, we create a campus where students can find not just an education, but connection; not just opportunities, but support; not just a place to study, but a place where they can truly belong,” said Bailey.

How are you building community this semester? Let us know in the comments below!

(Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

09/06/2026

Bates College President Garry W. Jenkins has been selected as a member for the Aspen Institute’s Aspen-Kern Presidential Leadership Fellowship.

The fellowship, offered through the Aspen-Kern Program for Leadership and Character in Higher Education, is designed to support and enhance the leadership of new college presidents. This program emphasizes the ways in which undergraduate education prepares students to be successful, contributing members of society, including developing powers of critical thinking; cultivating the ability to engage in civil, challenging, and creative dialogue; and fostering individual growth and exploration.

Jenkins, who joined Bates as the college’s ninth president on July 1, 2023, said that this opportunity aligns with Bates’ BOND (Bates Open Network on Dialogue) initiative and other emerging efforts focused on enhancing civil discourse.

“Developing the habits of engaged inquiry and effective communication are hallmarks of a liberal arts education—especially a Bates education,” Jenkins said. “The opportunity to work with other college presidents through the Aspen Institute, and to talk together about the promise and purpose of higher education is a true honor.”

Congratulations, President Jenkins!

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

09/04/2026

New year, new questions. And new faculty to help our students explore them.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be introducing the several scholars, teachers, and mentors joining Bates for the 2026-27 academic year and asking them: What are you most excited about?

Today, meet Emily Culbreath, assistant professor of dance.

“Working closely with students in the studio and in performance…I am especially eager to contribute to campus-wide conversations that connect hip-hop dance and embodied practice with broader questions of culture, identity, and activism.”

Welcome, Emily! To learn more about Emily and her teaching, scholarship, and some of her interests outside the classroom, see our story at the link in our comments below. ⬇️

(Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

09/03/2026

Arrival day, the Bates way. Exactly one week ago, the Bates Class of 2030 found their Bobcat home.

(David Ernst/Bates College)

09/02/2026

Back to the reason we’re all here.

Tackling big questions in small settings with dedicated faculty mentors, staff, and curious classmates.

Happy first day of classes, Bobcats!

(Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

09/01/2026

Bates begins. With Opening Convocation now complete, a new academic year is off and running.

With bright sunny skies and crisp September air, Bates President Garry W. Jenkins (Garry Jenkins) welcomed the Class of 2030, new transfer students, as well as new faculty and staff to the Bates community.

Reflecting on their own bittersweet feelings toward the day, Bates Student Government co-presidents Ava B. Steinberger ’27 and Mohammed Zayd ’27 celebrated the fact that the Class of 2030’s Bates journey was just beginning, while noting that today’s ceremony was a stark reminder that their own time at Bates would soon be coming to a close.

Delivering the Convocation Address, Whitehouse Professor of Psychology Amy Bradfield Douglass gave the Class of 2030 some useful ideas on how to harness the power of social influence to support and nurture a successful academic experience at Bates.

The first day of classes kicks off tomorrow, Sept. 2. But first, enjoy a few scenes from today’s events followed by some moments from our memorial tree planting ceremony honoring those the Bates community lost this past year.

(Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

08/31/2026

As we prepare to begin the 2026–27 academic year, get to know a few fun facts about the 552 members of the Bates Class of 2030 — the third-largest entering class in Bates history.

Among them:
• a member of Canada's women's national field hockey team
• the winner of the Eastern Junior Scottish Fiddling Championship
• a competitive white water canoe racer
• a designer of a straw composting system turning 152 tons of straw into 5 tons of fertilizer

Read below for more fun facts about the newest members of the Bates community!

Read on for more fun facts about the newest members of the Bates community.